A young man who can be wild about anything is a true youth.
The Lin family's house was located on the eastern outskirts of the city, just a few bends in the fields. When Tang Qi and Lin Jiacuo arrived with the boy, a crowd had already gathered around them.
The boy quickly squeezed through the crowd, shielding the woman in the center behind him, and angrily shouted at the leader, "What do you want to do! Stay away from my mother!"
"Stay away from your mother? Bah! Who do you think you are, daring to talk to me like that? Do you know you've killed people?"
Wang Shili kicked the man lying on the ground. The man's face had already turned purple and he was no longer breathing. When Wang Shili kicked him, his head tilted to the side, which made people's hearts tremble.
"He never even came to our house for treatment, how could we have killed him!"
Lin Zhengye glanced at the ground a few times and hurriedly offered his explanation.
"I said you killed him, so you killed him. What, did he die on his own?"
"you!"
Lin Zhengye had never dealt with such a shameless person before. His mind went blank for a moment, and he was so enraged by Wang Shili's words that he almost rolled up his sleeves and punched the man on the head. Fortunately, Lin Jiacuo arrived in time and stopped him just before he threw a punch.
"Oh, what's this? You're not satisfied with just curing people to death, now you want to kill people too? Your Lin family is truly full of exceptionally talented individuals."
Lin Jiacuo pressed Lin Zhengye's shoulder, blocking him, and said to the people in front, "My younger brother is ignorant and offended Young Master Wang. I apologize on his behalf."
Wang Shili's eyes were full of disdain. He raised his hand and patted Lin Jiacuo's face a few times, then smiled meaningfully: "You really know how to read people's expressions. No wonder you could swagger around in front of Tang Qi like a dog for so long."
Lin Gyatso smiled faintly and let him rant.
There's a saying that goes something like this: If a dog bites you, can you bite it back?
"Wang Shili, why are you so persistent? You just smashed a table at Baibulou, and now you're causing trouble here. How much free time do you have all day?"
Tang Qi crossed his arms and swaggered through the crowd, squatting down in front of the person lying on the ground. He reached out to feel the pulse in the neck—there was indeed no pulse. He then pinched the person's chin and turned it from side to side to check other parts of the body.
"Wang Shili, what did you just say about how he died?" Tang Qi suddenly asked.
"How else could he have died? He was killed by treatment, of course. What, does our Young Master Tang intend to protect him?"
Tang Qi stood up and glanced at him: "It's not about covering up, but I think you should explain the broken bones in his body first."
"What do you mean, Tang Qi? Don't you dare stir up trouble here. Everyone knows you have a relationship with Lin Jiacuo!" Wang Shili pointed at him and cursed again.
Tang Qi walked to Lin Jiacuo's side: "It's true that I have a relationship with him, but I prefer to speak the truth. I estimate that the person you sent has about a dozen broken bones all over his body. The fatal injury should be in his head. If you don't believe me, you can have someone examine the injury. As for your claim that he was killed by treatment, if you can find any trace of the herbs he recently took on his body, I'll take off his head and give it to you as a herbal medicine jar."
Tang Qi's words were sharp, leaving Wang Shili speechless for a moment. Lin Jiacuo asked him in a low voice, "Examine the wound? Where should we examine it? And go and call Cheng Junshi back?"
Tang Qi turned his head and looked at Lin Jiacuo with obvious disdain:
"You go and call them?"
Lin Gyatso silently turned his head away without saying a word.
"Tang Qi, what the hell are you pretending for? You think you're so great just because you're a young marquis?" Seeing that he had been exposed, Wang Shili became reckless and started cursing Tang Qi, as if that would make him seem more confident.
Tang Qi never responded to Wang Shili's insults. He felt that communicating with such a person was an insult to his culture and usually turned a deaf ear to them.
"Your father, Marquis Jianbei, fought for so many years, and in the end, he was still driven out of Jingzhou in disgrace, wasn't he? What, you think you can act all high and mighty in Luocheng? Bah! What Wolf Strategy Army general? Without Marquis Jianbei, you're nothing. Oh right, it's not even certain whether your father will come back from this campaign..."
Lin Jiacuo grabbed Wang Shili by the collar, his previous composure gone, his eyes filled with a threatening look: "Go ahead and say one more word if you dare."
Tang Qi narrowed his eyes, as if he had sensed some danger, and said to Lin Jiacuo, "Jiacuo, let him go."
Lin Jiacuo turned to look at Tang Qi, his expression somewhat puzzled.
"let go."
Tang Qi repeated it again.
Wang Shili straightened his collar, which Lin Jiacuo had ruffled, and met Tang Qi's icy gaze. He was momentarily stunned, but still pretended to puff out his chest and act as if he were fearless.
"Continue with what you just said."
Tang Qi stared at him with a stern face, her voice turning somber.
Wang Shili felt a little uneasy under his gaze and blurted out quickly, "It's uncertain whether soldiers going to war will be able to come back. Tang Qi, are you out of your mind? Why would you ask that?"
"Let's go, let's go quickly."
Seeing that things were not going well, he quickly decided to run away. So he raised his hand and beckoned the people around him to leave with him, and also took the person lying on the ground with him.
Tang Qi, however, kept staring at Wang Shili's hurried departure. He felt that Wang Shili's words were not so simple. It was like a frozen lake being gently tapped with a stick. Although it remained deathly silent, the shattered fragments indicated that an unsettling situation was about to begin.
Lin Jiacuo asked Lin Zhengye to help his mother back into the house, then looked at Tang Qi and asked, "Zhong Le, why did you return to Luocheng?"
Hearing this, Tang Qi snapped out of his daze, patted Lin Jiacuo on the shoulder, and said, "Recruit soldiers and prepare to retake Nanru City."
Nanru City has been occupied by the Southern Continent Kingdom since the reign of the late emperor. One of the major goals of his father, Tang Mian, on this southern expedition is to reclaim Nanru City. The city is strategically located and has been used by the Southern Continent Kingdom to threaten the Great Shuo Kingdom on several occasions. Tang Qi is ordered by the emperor to prepare to go to the battlefield as a reserve force in a few months to assist the Marquis of Jianbei in his southern expedition.
"Recruiting soldiers? Brother Qi, are you recruiting? I want to join the army!"
Lin Zhengye, who had just come out of the inner room, immediately approached Tang Qi upon hearing this, his eyes shining.
Tang Qi was amused by the person who suddenly jumped out and tapped him on the head, saying, "It's enough that your brother is in the army. You should stay at home and take care of your family."
Lin Zhengye replied, "My parents are even healthier than I am, so there's nothing to worry about. Besides, I really want to be like you, General, bravely fighting the enemy and protecting our country."
Lin Jiacuo slapped him on the head: "You brat, I didn't know you had such lofty ambitions."
"I grew up listening to Brother Qi's stories. Silver-haired warhorses, a long spear cutting through the battlefield—I've admired that kind of majesty for a long time! I also want to join the Wolf Strategy Army, to gallop across the battlefield with you and my brother, kill enemies and make merit, and become a majestic general!"
After saying that, Lin Zhengye demonstrated a few moves to Tang Qi. He had never formally studied martial arts and only practiced some unorthodox methods.
Tang Qi smiled and stopped Lin Zhengye. Looking at his expectant eyes, he hesitated for a moment and carefully chose his words, saying, "Your skills are good, and you are indeed a good candidate for joining the army. However, our southern expedition is only as a reserve force. Our main task is to ensure the safety of the rear lines and prevent the enemy from escaping. We are dealing with remnants of the enemy. I'm afraid we can't fulfill your dream of becoming a general."
"It's alright, Brother Qi! I've learned most of my parents' medical skills, and I can also serve as a medic for the wounded in the army."
Seeing his stubbornness, Tang Qi glanced at Lin Jiacuo and, seeing that he didn't seem to object much, frowned and continued, "How about this, you can participate in the next Wolf Strategy Army selection. If you pass, I will give you the opportunity to join the army."
"real?!"
Lin Zhengye seemed somewhat excited.
"Of course, I never lie."
"Okay! I'll definitely pass!"
Seeing his face beaming with joy, Tang Qi laughed and said, "Don't be too happy yet. The Wolf Strategy Army's assessment is not easy. If you don't pass, don't blame me for not giving you a chance."
"How could that be? Brother Qi, I've already thought it through. If I don't pass the next assessment, I'll prepare for another year. Anyway, there's still a long way to go. If one year isn't enough, I'll try again next year. I don't believe I can't get through it. One day, I'll definitely wear the Wolf Strategy Army's token on my waist."
"Good lad, you have ambition."
Tang Qi raised his hand and pressed it on Lin Jiacuo's shoulder, nodding at him with his eyes: "When you join the Wolf Strategy Army in the future, perform well and try to take down your brother. Then you can be my deputy general."
"Absolutely!"
Lin Jiacuo grabbed Lin Zhengye by the neck, who was still gleefully pleased, and said, "You brat, you've got some good ideas." Then he kicked him in the butt and said, "Go, go to the inner room and help your mother gather the herbs."
"Okay!"
After saying that, Lin Zhengye darted into the inner room. Tang Qi laughed and said, "Zhengye is quite agile. Given time, he will be no less than you or me."
"You think too highly of him." Lin Jiacuo shook his head repeatedly, also annoyed by his younger brother's antics.
Tang Qi shrugged and didn't say anything more. He suddenly remembered Lin Zhengye's earlier words and couldn't help but laugh out loud: "What have they made of this? A long spear cutting through the battlefield? Even novels wouldn't dare to write something like that."
"Who told our young Marquis Tang to follow the old general in battles at such a young age, accumulating a wealth of achievements, and at the age of twenty, he firmly held the position of the southern general of the Wolf Strategy Army, making him a top celebrity in Luocheng."
Tang Qi kicked Lin Jiacuo, who was still acting all cheeky, and said, "Get lost."
After the two joked around for a while, Tang Qi became serious again: "By the way, in a few days you will go to the military camp to muster a few hundred soldiers, and you will set off with me in about a month."
"More than a month? Aren't we supposed to be going to support General Tang? Why is it taking so long?"
Tang Qi also shook his head: "This is the Emperor's will. I don't know either. Perhaps General Ye is coming to my father's aid, so there's no rush. Moreover, this time we are acting as a reserve force to escort military supplies, replacing the front troops. The task is not heavy, but we cannot be too careless. Remember to send some elite troops and travel light."
"clear."
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